For those in the northern hemisphere the summer solstice is nearly upon us. (It's nearly the winter solstice for those in the southern hemishere)

The peak of the summer solstice brought on a question that I want to throw out and share.... What is summer to you? what sound? smell? activity? what is it that instantly brings 'summer' to your mind?

Is it the sound of a lawn being mowed or maybe the smell of a fresh cut lawn? the smell of coconut tan lotion? hot BBQ'd chicken? the tase of a fresh slice of watermellon? the sound of crickets or frogs at night?

What means summer to you?

Ya, really want to know! Camping, BBQing, going to the Rogue River, rides in the mountain! OUTDOORS!!!!

Heat and Humidity. Blech.
The Pool!
I'd say cookouts, but here in Houston we can do that year round. ;)
Green and Lush.
Long days, sun setting after 8pm
Bees!
Girls shedding all those layers of clothes.:wow:
Just to name a few... :D

I work at a university so.....those pesky students leaving!!! (for traffic/commuting purposes).

Although I DO miss all those lovely co-eds on campus to look at!!!

http://www.sleeve02.com/images/Sailing%20Stuff/Mutineer/Shakedown_2_small.jpg

...nuff said

i freakin hate the summer, we've already peaked the 100 degree mark a few days ago. im an autumn to spring type of guy. i love the cold weather and snow which we rarely get. but its odd cuase i like to mow the lawn and can only do that during the summer im a frekin weirdo.

For those of you in Canada summer is those rare few days after the Stanley Cup has been awarded and prior to training camp when it does not snow but you may get hail. :D:D:D:D

Here in San Diego, we look forward to Summer.. When the cold 72-degree days and the blustery 10-mph ocean breezes of Winter give way to balmy 75-degree days with 12-mph winds off the Pacific, we pack away our winter shorts, talk-tops and flip-flops in favor of less-confining Summer attire.....

Then we spent the next 3 months avoiding Arizonans who park their Buicks in the middle of the freeway.

The nice thing about Georgia is that summer begins sowhere in late February or early March and ends in late October or early November. Just staying light until 9pm at night is what I like. We are at the Western end of the Eastern time zone and I love being outdoors for those long days.

ooooh yeah I forgot about being out at 9:00 at night, still day light. Classic Car Cruises, ooh yeah!! The town over has "Graffiti Night" in July, Big car cruise. I've never made it, but want to go. Anyways,.

ooooh yeah I forgot about being out at 9:00 at night, still day light. Classic Car Cruises, ooh yeah!! The town over has "Graffiti Night" in July, Big car cruise. I've never made it, but want to go. Anyways,. We have them from April to October. I'm at about half the local ones and a few remote ones. My cruiser every so often wins.

Cool! Most of ours in this county are hmm September. One of the big ones is July. My fave was this purple cuda. Was here in town. the guy sold it last summer for big $$ was sad to watch it load up on that trailer. He lived down the road. BBQ's, County Fair, rides in mountains, camping, hanging on the Rogue River, is what I think about summer. Next year will be (hoping) heading to Eastern Oregon!! I love summer (actually most seasons at that)

Shall we not forget the sunburn as a favorite piece of the summer solstice?

Cool! Most of ours in this county are hmm September. One of the big ones is July. My fave was this purple cuda. ...
I was so tempted to enter the Patriot in the May show. There are a few "Purple People Eater" Cudas around here. There is a guy who did a complete restoration of a red Hemi Challenger that is better than new.

I loved that cuda in purple. Was pretty!!! I'd love to find a 55-57 Bel Air!! My friend she has a 68' Camaro. AWWWW! I'd like be be able to take a car to some shows.

Oh how dare you mention sunburns haha!!! I burn then tan and then my hubby he just goes dark.

Man, I had a chance to buy a 1967 Cuda once... :kicks foot in dirt and pouts: Still dig the Woodward Dream cruise every year though so I get my fair share of carbon dioxide!

I just burn, then get a small tan, then burn again... :(

There's one rule at our local car cruise. NO BURN OUTS!! WHAT!! Come on, you gotta let them burn out!! My uncle got in trouble years ago for that. Our coordinators gets soooooo :mad:!!! I came close to buying a 65 or 66 Olds Cutless. Some teenage boys bought it, took it in the snow and trashed it. Sigh!! I would of taken care of it. I was a teenager myself but had more respect haha!!

Actually I should be outside getting toasted by the sun right now. It's HOT out there.

We don't allow burnouts either. Too dangerous due to the layout of the parking lot.

Got you all beat. My father would not let me buy a 1967 Vette convertible in very good condition with a 327 / 350 clean 11 year old car for only $3500 from my next door neighbor. Gas prices had killed the price but it doubled to 7000 the next year. Now work somewhere north of 35000. Now I would not have wrecked it.

Awww nice! My dad (RIP) had a 50' Vette. I believe he got it while in the Navy or after he got out of the Navy. I can't remember cause some where in there he had a 68 or 69' Camaro. Beautiful cars. One thing I wish my dad had did was keep them along with the 60' something El Camino. (can ya tell my dad liked Chevy). The Camaro he got drunk with some buddy's and umm well it wasn't pretty anymore. Then in 87' mom and dad traded a 63' or 66' see I can't remember haha Olds in. My mom a few years later goes. "I wish we hadn't traded that car in, we could of gave it to you!" Gee thanks Mom (RIP)!! I don't know how I, his daughter became a car freak. My brother no interest only if it's a Honda!!

As for the Burn outs it may be due to that the cruise is through main street and new pavement. There maybe also be a liability. I did witness a fender bender last year. Wasn't too bad.

In my clan, summer solstice is celebrated by waxing skis and praying for snow.

That purple color on the MOPAR muscle was called "Plum Crazy" BTW.....

my dad has a cherry 70 hemi cuda. top mpg=6

Summer evening baseball
Mowing the yard
BBQ

yum BBQ.

yum BBQ.

B - B - Q hmmmmmmm love the smell of the wood smoke and the meat cooking... and than there's the taste of fresh bbq.

Here is a shot of a recent brisket...

http://i7.tinypic.com/536gvvn.jpg

and here's one of the fall-off-the-bone St. Louis style pork ribs we did up the last weekend...

http://i17.tinypic.com/4qgv62c.jpg

:drool:

Nice looking ribs.... to answer the question: Summer is...Jeepin', no top, no doors. (Willys, MB, CJ, YJ, TJ, Wrangler).

OK!! That's it, time to get the Grill out from under that tarp and start to grill. Hmmm Just how am I to do that while the house is getting new roof and being remodeled. I shall WIN!! I want to grill so bad, those pictures make me want to wander through the mess in the yard to grill. That weather had been perfect also!!!

I'm still trying to figure out how to bbq tofu.

Well I was curious I did a search "Grilling Tofu" lots of recipes came up. Food Network had one. I guess you just grill it enough that the edge get crisp!! My brother discovered these tofu noodles, he loves them. I've never tried it.

Tastes just like chicken.

Are you joking or it really does taste like chicken :D

Tofu tastes like whatever you season it to taste like.:D That's what veggie burgers are primarily made out of and a boca burger tastes like a hamburger only a little dry.

I may have to try it!!

So to tie this back to summer tofu will help you keep to a diet and get into that small swimsuit.

Tofu stir fry really isn't too bad. I've never tired to BBQ it though... I save the grill for chicken and salmon

Ok am hungry now... so much for the diet.

I'm dieting right now (or changing the things I eat?) Seems to be working kind of good but we just had our strawberries come in so I had a bunch of shortcake. [oops]

Tonight it's pizza but tomorrow it'll be ceder planked salmon on the BBQ

Why grill the salmon? Just put it on a rice ball and add wasabi. Saves time and effort plus you get to play with knives!

Tofu tastes like whatever you season it to taste like.:D ...

:doh: hmmm... not really. It tastes like seasoned tofu. tofu is good in somethings - but it is not more more a substitute for real meat than carob is a substitute for real chocolate.

I haven't tried bbq'ing tofu yet. I probably would need to put it in a grill stir-fry pan...

hmmm... looks like if I wrap some firm tofu in bananna leaves and smoke it out on the bbq for about 40 minutes it will be good to go. May have to try this for some veggie-friends this summer.

Why grill the salmon? Just put it on a rice ball and add wasabi. Saves time and effort plus you get to play with knives!

because we have gone thru more than half of last season's salmon and still have more than 60 lbs of salmon filets... I am running out of recipes and ways to prepare it.

There are some great smoker recipes - one we are trying this weekend is for a variation on the Mediterranean pizza (adding pre-cooked salmon pieces to it.)